How to turn off Headphone Safety on iPhone

moopher wrote:

6 times today, SIX! While I was trying to just keep busy cleaning the house. Get it together Apple and override this update or I will be switching away from iOS for the first time since 2007.

Depending upon where you live, that may not have the effect you want.

From what I can tell from complaints about Samsung Galaxy/Note devices, among others, Android phones in the have had a similar limiter for about two years now, and it cannot be shut off on phones sold in the EU.

On the Samsung, you get a warning and the phone will turn down the volume, and you have to acknowledge the warning and turn the volume back up - which sounds familiar.

UsernamePlus wrote:

This isn’t anything to do with regulations. There’s no Global Music Regulation that affects the whole world. There’s no regulation in any country that says that phones cannot output to a hifi above a certain volume. Other manufacturer’s phones don’t automatically force the volume down.

In researching this on Android devices, apparently at least on Samsung devices when the limit is reached for headphones or Bluetooth devices (like Apple, their phones make no distinction between BT headphones and other BT audio connections) the volume is lowered and the warning displayed, and the warning must be dismissed and the volume turned back up.

According to EU regulations, the warning must reappear and be acknowledged by the user at least every twenty hours.

Note this is not a law per se, it is a "guideline" - but manufacturers that do not comply must go through a very expensive safety validation process for their products.

The limits appear to be:

Exposure to sound levels shall be time limited to avoid hearing damage. At 80 dB(A) exposure time shall be limited to 40 hours/week, whereas at 89 dB(A) exposure time shall be limited to 5 hours/week. For other exposure levels a linear intra- and extrapolation applies. Account shall be taken of the dynamic range of sound and the reasonably foreseeable use of the products.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32009D0490&rid=7

Here's an article describing the issue from 2015, long before iOS implemented it (I've no idea how they avoided it for so long):

Media Music Now Blog: European Commission controlling the volume on our MP3 players, iPods and other personal music players

Indeed, 2013 appears to have been the implementation mandate date (the EU is less than clear about publishing their regulations):

The new standards stipulate that all personal music players sold in the EU after February 2013 should have a default set volume level of 85dB. Mobile phones which can play music through headphones are also affected by these recommended sound limitations.

However, consumers can also choose to override this limit and increase the volume level to a maximum of 100dB. If they do so, warnings about the risks of listening to music above safety levels must be repeated every 20 hours of listening time.

[ … ]

…these new technical safety standards - effective from February 2013 - were drawn up by the EU standardisation body, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC).

EU standards not mandatory

The EU standards are voluntary. Yet, the Commission has expressed that EU standards usually become the new means of measure within the industry.

hear-it: New EU standards for personal music players and mobile phones

Apple has once again graced us with another completely annoying feature in iOS 14. Let’s not forget that this all started with the iPod, a music listening device, and this headphone safety feature is a demonstration of Apple’s pitiful software testing process. Over a decade I’ve been first hand witness to the degradation of a premium product through either cost cutting or simply a lack of testing and research. The decision to take away the headphone jack with iPhone 7, making a bluetooth connection the primary output, you’d assume the software would have been developed to distinguish between a Bluetooth device! Especially in a car! Sad

It is unclear whether EU regulations allow delineation between headphones and a generic BT audio connection; the regulations I have found just state "output" and seem to imply the limit applies to headphone jacks and Bluetooth in general.

In particular, that is the way limits are implemented on Android devices sold in the EU; the volume limits apply to any applicable headphone jack and to Bluetooth in general, whether headphones, speakers or an audio system.

I have a current Galaxy phone. It follows the EU regulations: when the user increases the volume to where it would exceed 85dB, there is a warning popup, the user needs to acknowledge, and then the volume can be increased further up to 100dB. This warning will reappear after 20 hours of listening (presumably - I have not measured it myself, but that is what the regulations require, and it will take several days or even weeks for me to see the warning again). Also, the volume does not drop during the warning.

While the described Android behaviour can be annoying, it is considerably less intrusive than the iOS headphone notifications since 14.2, which drop the volume and which can reappear every few minutes. Before 14.2 my EU iPhone followed the same regulations as the Samsung.

As far as I can tell, the EU regulations in this matter have become adopted by IEC 62368-1 and thereby become international as of December 2020, which may have caused Apple to review its handling. However, the implementation in iOS 14.2 goes well above and beyond the requirements, and instead it moves closer to the much stricter WHO recommendations. I don't think there is any legal requirement for other manufacturers to follow this course.

So for now I have switched to my Samsung, but I keep my hopes up that Apple will change its mind on this, as I would love to reactivate my iPhone, or even upgrade to an iPhone 12.

+1 exactly what i’ve and experience right now. Every few days I give a call to apple support asking to update my ticket in their system. Last time technician told me that he understands why I’m angry on this feature and admired that without jail breaking it might not be possible to turn this thing off.

Do you have an Android device that you actually tested your theory on? Coz my buddy has an EU Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and he likes his music loud and clear and says there are no limitations as such on his device or software.

urbncwby76 wrote:

Do you have an Android device that you actually tested your theory on? Coz my buddy has an EU Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and he likes his music loud and clear and says there are no limitations as such on his device or software.

If you do an Internet search you will find many, many threads on the subject; perhaps Samsung found a loophole around the EU requirements.

Because the Google Play store is the Wild West, there are apparently some apps available that hack the OS to shut the warning off or you can make a change via the Android command line in developer mode.

I have never complained about Apple software before but someone telling me how loud i can listen to music is a step too far. Utter utter nonsense and since music is my things this will definitely influence my next phone choice. As someone pointed out wasn't it the ipod where all of this pocket technology took off? I am not a teenager to be told

off by my parents I am 50 years old plus adult in charge of my own life. What next.? Apple car play telling me that Im not driving correctly? Nanny state gone way way too far. Apple you need to treat your customers properly. I will wait for the next update (due any day now for one reason or another) and will expect this to become a personal choice not something foisted on by a company’s dubiously referenced legislation. ( WHO does not legislate BTW) Very very annoyed

No it’s not a violation of any “rules”. Just because there is a very subjective RECOMMENDATION that was drafted by a bunch of reps in 2009 does not make it a law or rule. While you think you know about Android devices just by googleing them you don’t. You won’t see masses fuming about their phone forcefully turning down volume in the Android world. Please stop constantly trying to excuse Apple. They need to change how they go about doing this and they need to do it fast if they wanna keep their customers in the Apple realm.

You mean a full-on restore to new or from a backup? Got mine 12 Pro Max on release day. Restored from a backup of my 11 then. I've reset it a few times recently and still can turn on/off. I don't anticipate doing a restore until I buy another phone, which is likely to be a couple of years from now.

urbncwby76 wrote:

No it’s not a violation of any “rules”. Just because there is a very subjective RECOMMENDATION that was drafted by a bunch of reps in 2009 does not make it a law or rule.

The BBC was pretty confident in saying "must":

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-21294537

Oh so now you're quoting a news outlet to excuse Apple? Coz BBC is a flawless god that has the authority to dictate what volume people can listen to their music at?.... right!

Well that article says users can (ok "must" if you like it) set volume from 85dB to 100dB. It gives users the ability to keep their music at 100dB if they CHOOSE TO. Difference is, Apple is not giving that CHOICE. In fact if you nanny yourself to reduce volume to 85dB you will still get a warning and have your volume turned down FORCEFULLY after every 40 hours of listening / week. Only time Apple won't send a warning is if you keep your volume at 80dB or lower. 80 dB or lower is like a friggin whisper to me.

It is actual law in France (the linked text is in French):

https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000027799648/

This web site states it is not an EU law, but to avoid having different models for France and elsewhere in the EU, most vendors will just impose the limit across their product line:

At volume settings for which the sound level is greater than 85 dB(A), the user must be informed by a visual or audible signal, and must acknowledge the signal, before he or she can override the volume limit to allow replay at these settings. The warning has to acknowledged at regular intervals. The equipment must default to a setting which gives less than 85 dB(A) when switched on.

https://www.isvr.co.uk/labtests/en50332.htm

Full erase/restore by computer activates on old devices. Erasing & putting backup ok.

Hopefully those unhappy use apple.com/feedback so if it can be tweaked in compliance- it will if enough feedback is given there. Apple doesn’t monitor these forms- think of them as a sort of community discussion self help deal.